


I Could Not Stop For Death

by auwana



Category: Highlander - All Media Types, Highlander: The Series, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study?, Gen, No Dialogue, Stream of Consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23077954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auwana/pseuds/auwana
Summary: Natasha. Immortality. I had feels. One day I'll get them all out. For now, this.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	I Could Not Stop For Death

Natasha tells people she doesn't remember much about her childhood. She tells people the Red Room took a lot away from her. No one tends to ask questions once the brainwashing and memory-erasing in brought up. Those who know Natasha is older than she looks attribute it to Russian experiments with super-soldier serums. Which isn't exactly wrong. But Natasha...is different.

Pure lightning crackles under her skin. Death is a break from reality. As long as she avoids decapitation, Natasha will rise from any death she suffers.

Still, she does her best to stay alive. Coming back from the dead leads to very long conversations. Or more deaths. Usually, not hers. Usually.

Natasha doesn't tell Clint. She can trust him with a lot of things. She can't trust him with something that affects more than her. She's the only one of her kind within the Red Room.

But immortals are everywhere.

Nick knows. Something about being a spy long before any military thought to train him as one. He doesn't ask personal questions, though, and she returns the respect. He knows and hasn't told anyone. That's what matters. 

Shield has a handful of immortal employees. The others avoid combat roles, stay safe within offices and labs. Their skills are honed, though. No immortal lasts long without the ability to wield a blade, no matter how secure Shield is.

Maria knows. Maria found out. The hard way. As mortals do. Or, as supposed mortals do. Something the Red Room did to her allows her to know those who have the potential for immortality. Maria will be in for a shock when she wakes up from the dead. But Natasha thinks, if Maria can handle Natasha coughing up blood as she revives, Maria will be able to handle The Game.

Still, Natasha should probably tell her sooner over later. Maybe tell Nick. He'll look out for Maria, always has, in one way or another. The tough mother fucker routine fools a lot of people.

Natasha isn't a lot of people.

Then things...get out of hand. Joining the Avengers Initiative had been a bad idea. But, after the fifty years of being trapped under the control of the Red Room, Natasha was tired. Shield wasn't a respite, just another way to pass the time. And she passed the time. Hell, she helped save the world.

But Nick asked nicely. And maybe, just maybe, being an Avenger would mean a death she wouldn't walk away from.

It takes a while. The world loses half it's people, and Natasha isn't the only person with a Quickening to notice a lot of their kind weren't affected.

If they were already immortal, that is.

Natasha wonders how Maria will come back. If she comes back. She doesn't spend a lot of time wondering about it.

Natasha holds together what's left of the Avengers. She doesn't know why. Steve's capable, Okoye could handle it, Rhodey would strangle Rocket on occasion, but he would do it. But none of them have a growing network of immortals slowly working together to keep the world turning. The Game doesn't matter anymore. What few head hunters remain are destroyed. 

Still, they don't step out of the shadows. They teach, they create, they move on. Sticking around for too long is a terrible idea even now. People are paranoid. People notice. 

Natasha has a damn good cover story. 

And then...And then Vormir happens. And then she has a real chance to end things on a high note. A sacrificial death. That wouldn't be so bad. Her life for a chance at everyones. Clint would tell the tale. Other immortals would learn what she did. She would live on in different ways.

So she jumps.

So she falls.

So she dies.

And when her lungs seize, when her throat fights for air and moisture, Natasha ignores the tacky blood in her hair and waits for her body to settle. 

Ah, well. It was worth a shot. 

She pushes herself up and sighs. In the distance, she can still see the ship. Checking her gear, she sees that Clint's signal is gone. She has a jump left. Getting back would be cake. And she probably should. 

But she's tired. 

Natasha is selfish. It's what got her caught by the Red Room. It's what got her caught by Clint. It's how she ended up on an alien planet all by herself.

She heads for the ship. She takes out a stolen beeper from a protected compartment. The signal would take a few days. She had enough food and water for a week. Danvers would catch up to her, and Natasha would show her the video from the future. Or she wouldn't, and Natasha would jump back to her proper time. 

Either way, Natasha would figure something out.

She always did.


End file.
